Arizona Cardinals vs. Seattle Seahawks: Preview, prediction
The Arizona Cardinals close out their 2015 regular season schedule in an NFC West rematch hosting the Seattle Seahawks.
The Cardinals have an outside shot at winning the number 1 seed heading in the playoffs. If the Tampa Bay Buccaneers beat the Carolina Panthers and the Cardinals take care of business, the Cardinals will have home field throughout the entire playoffs. The Seattle Seahawks (9-6) are trying to clinch the 5th seed and are coming off of a surprising home loss to the St. Louis Rams, 23-17 (the Rams also beat the Seahawks in Week 1). The Cardinals (13-2) are on a nine game win streak and blew out a struggling Green Packers team, 38-8.
History:
The Cardinals and the Seahawks have played each other 33 times in the regular season. The Cardinals played two of these games as the St. Louis Cardinals. Arizona has an all time 17-16 record against Seattle. The last win against the Seahawks came earlier this season, when the Cardinals traveled to Seattle to protect their NFC West lead. In that game the Cardinals built a 19 point lead, but the Seahawks were able to come after back to back strip sacks of Carson Palmer. However, Palmer rebounded with an MVP performance by leading the Arizona Cardinals on back to back touchdown drives to regain the lead for good, winning 39-32.
What: Seattle Seahawks at Arizona Cardinals
Where: University of Phoenix Stadium, Glendale, AZ
When: 2:25 PM Arizona Time (4:25 PM EST)
TV: FOX
Radio: Arizona Sports 98.7 FM
Keys to victory:
The biggest concern for Palmer heading into this game is protection. In their last game against the Seahawks, the Cardinals offensive line surrendered 3 sacks, with 2 of these of resulting in fumbles recovered by the Seahawks. Palmer this season has done at excellent job in limiting turnovers, having thrown only one interception in the last 5 games. Last week, Palmer threw for 265 yards and 2 touchdowns and was able to call it a night after 3 quarters as the Cardinals were up by 30 at that point. This game will be Palmer’s last chance to show why he should be named the MVP. Who knows, maybe a win against the team “no one wants to face” might just be enough for Palmer to steal the MVP away from Cam Newton?
Wide receiver Michael Floyd who has recently been nicknamed “Seahawk Killer” is expected to play this week. With Richard Sherman most likely covering John Brown, Floyd should be able to get plenty of opportunities to torch the Seahawks defense like he has down throughout his career. Earlier this season against the Seahawks, Floyd caught 7 passes for 113 yards and a touchdown. John Brown is only 42 yards away from his first 1000 yard receiving season so he will be playing with a little extra juice and will help Palmer spread the field as he has done all season.